Safety of school apps between educators and students in the Borderland
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Over the last two weeks at least three SISD staff members have faced multiple child indecency charges involving students.
Court records state one victim told investigators that she and teacher, Llojan Almaraz, who worked at Capt. Walter E. Clarke Middle School, first started talking over the school's sports communication app, which is designed to facilitate student/staff communication.
According to Socorro ISD, there are a variety of applications used to keep parents and students informed of school-related activities and events. The district said not all platforms are monitored, which is something they are reviewing.
"All employees go through training on the use of these communication tools both with parents and students. Like with all other methods of communication, our standards of conduct outline what is appropriate and not in communicating with parents and students," said Christina Flores-Jones, spokesperson for Socorro ISD.
ABC-7 reached out to surrounding school districts regarding policies on school apps of their own.
According to Canutillo ISD, the district uses Google classroom or the "Reminder app" to communicate with students.
"These are apps that can be tracked and are tracked by the school district. And also require parental consent. They require parental monitoring. So so it is, we feel a safe way to maintain communication with students for things like coaching or, you know, band practice, things like that," said CISD Spokesperson, Gustavo Reveles.
Reveles adds staff does undergo training about appropriate communication with students and the platforms that are not advisable like social media or text messages.
According to Ysleta ISD, the district does not use any specific app or platform as a whole. However, campuses use applications like Remind or ClassDojo.
"Employees who use the district's email platform to contact students are required to include the parent and/or legal guardian in all communications with the student," said Tracy Garcia-Ramirez, spokesperson for YISD. "Parents should always monitor any type of technology use by their children. Additionally, district staff are trained annually on regulations/policies for communicating with students, which includes ensuring that a parent/guardian is included in any form of communication with students."
El Paso ISD said they have transitioned to the "Apptegy" platform, which includes a secure feature called ROOMS.
"Designated school administrators have oversight within ROOMS, allowing them to review any communication between teachers and parents or between teachers and students at any time. This level of integrational oversight offers full transparency as no conversations can be deleted, reinforcing accountability across all interactions," said Liza Rodriguez, spokesperson for EPISD.
